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    Near-real-time monitoring of global CO2 emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
    ([London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2020) Liu, Zhu; Ciais, Philippe; Deng, Zhu; Lei, Ruixue; Davis, Steven J.; Feng, Sha; Zheng, Bo; Cui, Duo; Dou, Xinyu; Zhu, Biqing; Guo, Rui; Ke, Piyu; Sun, Taochun; Lu, Chenxi; He, Pan; Wang, Yuan; Yue, Xu; Wang, Yilong; Lei, Yadong; Zhou, Hao; Cai, Zhaonan; Wu, Yuhui; Guo, Runtao; Han, Tingxuan; Xue, Jinjun; Boucher, Olivier; Boucher, Eulalie; Chevallier, Frédéric; Tanaka, Katsumasa; Wei, Yiming; Zhong, Haiwang; Kang, Chongqing; Zhang, Ning; Chen, Bin; Xi, Fengming; Liu, Miaomiao; Bréon, François-Marie; Lu, Yonglong; Zhang, Qiang; Guan, Dabo; Gong, Peng; Kammen, Daniel M.; He, Kebin; Schellnhuber, Hans Joachim
    The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting human activities, and in turn energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Here we present daily estimates of country-level CO2 emissions for different sectors based on near-real-time activity data. The key result is an abrupt 8.8% decrease in global CO2 emissions (−1551 Mt CO2) in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The magnitude of this decrease is larger than during previous economic downturns or World War II. The timing of emissions decreases corresponds to lockdown measures in each country. By July 1st, the pandemic’s effects on global emissions diminished as lockdown restrictions relaxed and some economic activities restarted, especially in China and several European countries, but substantial differences persist between countries, with continuing emission declines in the U.S. where coronavirus cases are still increasing substantially.
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    The COVID‐19 Pandemic Not Only Poses Challenges, but Also Opens Opportunities for Sustainable Transformation
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley-Blackwell, 2021) Pradhan, Prajal; Subedi, Daya Raj; Khatiwada, Dilip; Joshi, Kirti Kusum; Kafle, Sagar; Chhetri, Raju Pandit; Dhakal, Shobhakar; Gautam, Ambika Prasad; Khatiwada, Padma Prasad; Mainaly, Jony; Onta, Sharad; Pandey, Vishnu Prasad; Parajuly, Keshav; Pokharel, Sijal; Satyal, Poshendra; Singh, Devendra Raj; Talchabhadel, Rocky; Tha, Rupesh; Thapa, Bhesh Raj; Adhikari, Kamal; Adhikari, Shankar; Chandra Bastakoti, Ram; Bhandari, Pitambar; Bharati, Saraswoti; Bhusal, Yub Raj; Bahadur BK, Man; Bogati, Ramji; Kafle, Simrin; Khadka, Manohara; Khatiwada, Nawa Raj; Lal, Ajay Chandra; Neupane, Dinesh; Neupane, Kaustuv Raj; Ojha, Rajit; Regmi, Narayan Prasad; Rupakheti, Maheswar; Sapkota, Alka; Sapkota, Rupak; Sharma, Mahashram; Shrestha, Gitta; Shrestha, Indira; Shrestha, Khadga Bahadur; Tandukar, Sarmila; Upadhyaya, Shyam; Kropp, Jürgen P.; Bhuju, Dinesh Raj
    The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted social, economic, and environmental systems worldwide, slowing down and reversing the progress made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs belong to the 2030 Agenda to transform our world by tackling humankind's challenges to ensure well-being, economic prosperity, and environmental protection. We explore the potential impacts of the pandemic on SDGs for Nepal. We followed a knowledge co-creation process with experts from various professional backgrounds, involving five steps: online survey, online workshop, assessment of expert's opinions, review and validation, and revision and synthesis. The pandemic has negatively impacted most SDGs in the short term. Particularly, the targets of SDG 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 13 have and will continue to have weakly to moderately restricting impacts. However, a few targets of SDG 2, 3, 6, and 11 could also have weakly promoting impacts. The negative impacts have resulted from impeding factors linked to the pandemic. Many of the negative impacts may subside in the medium and long terms. The key five impeding factors are lockdowns, underemployment and unemployment, closure of institutions and facilities, diluted focus and funds for non-COVID-19-related issues, and anticipated reduction in support from development partners. The pandemic has also opened a window of opportunity for sustainable transformation, which is short-lived and narrow. These opportunities are lessons learned for planning and action, socio-economic recovery plan, use of information and communication technologies and the digital economy, reverse migration and “brain gain,” and local governments' exercising authorities.